Wind energy turbine shell station (wetss)

Abstract

Wind Energy Shell Turbine Station, WETSS, is a super-tall shell like frame structure, supports pluralities of small wind turbines, HAWT or VAWT to harvest wind kinematical energy at large average height, generates electricity then Hydrogen and store it to generate electricity consistent with demand by fuel cells. WETSS typical height to width ratio 4-10, thickness 8-25 m depending on the seismic region. typical height 1,200-2,000 m, and width or diameter 200-500 m, typical real capacity 750 MW-3.75 GW fluctuating electricity and 200 MW-1 GW consistent with demand electricity, for 6 m/sec wind speed sites (13.4 Mile/h). Typical WETSS requires about 1/500 average land requirements used by current utility wind turbines. WETSS is typically made from steel. Seismic and wind design forces are comparatively very low because WETSS weighs less than 2% of similar size conventional steel building (Because of shell shape and less floors and less loads) and because of wind energy consumptions by turbines and openings.

I claim: 
     
         1 - A Wind Energy Turbine Shell Station (WETSS) that is a combination of multi level frame structure surrounds empty space and pluralities of individual Horizontal Axis or Vertical Axis wind turbines supported by said multi level frame, where said individual wind turbines harvest wind energy and generate electricity that is used to generate hydrogen that chemically stores large part of the harvested energy temporarily as a chemical medium and then hydrogen is stored in highly pressurized or liquefied form, then the stored hydrogen is used in fuel cells to regenerate electricity with regular characteristic of current, frequency and potential and then WETSS transmits said regular electricity into a grid after it subject to transformation to compatible voltage and current to that of a grid, and where the combination of shell like frame structure and small wind turbines, forms said WETSS, with 100% capacity credit and where the improvements are:
 a) Supply wind electricity output consistent with demand,   b) Supply wind electricity with required constant current, frequency and potential,   c) High capacity 100-1000 MW regular electricity, by building a multi level, shell like frame structure exclusively as a power station, and using the whole external sides of said frame structure to place wind turbines,   d) Increase functional height of said wind turbine to about 2000 m that is unprecedented yet altitude in structure and energy industries, where wind speed increases considerably and increases outcome of said wind turbines at least five, 5, times more than it's in low altitudes of about 100 high hubs,   e) Decrease the volumetric actual size of said frame structures to include only a narrow strip, about 10 m-25 m wide (in comparison to said frame structure total dimensions), that decreases construction costs of WETSS frame structure in comparison to similar size, totally built, frame structure,   f) Incorporate continuous maintenance in WETSS, all year around, that allows to reach highest possible operation hours of wind turbines,   g) Reduce noise from HAWT by employing smaller wind turbines, that have much less noise, on large heights, so that their noises become too low and doesn't hurt people health,   h) Decrease land space required for each MW more than four hundred, 400, times, that reduces adverse social impact on wind energy and makes wind energy so competitive,   i) Reduce costs of generating wind energy at least 5 times, without even including land rental, where the savings become larger if land savings are included, where the reduction in costs made wind energy very competitive with all existing energy production including hydro, where required land for same capacity is smaller than required to hydro and cost of 1 KWH is almost similar. However, hydro has some detrimental effects due to submerged fertile lands and displacement of many people,   j) Production of hydrogen for other industry uses on large scale and with cheaper costs.   k) Reduce environmental impact on birds, as utility HAWT tip velocities are 6-7 times larger than wind speed, while small HAWT turbines have similar frequency with less radius then with less linear speed, then they are less dangerous, and where small VAWT have close speed to wind speed, and where said typical WETSS comprises
 a) Multi level frame structure surrounds empty space, partially or completely, 
 b) Pluralities of individual wind turbines distributed on external perimeter of each level of said multi level frame and can be slid in and out of said multi level frame by means of maintenance tracks, arms and posts. 
 c) Horizontal level platforms on each level of said multi level frame, between external and internal columns, and stick out to form external platforms that support said wind turbines, 
 d) Electricity cables, transformers and electricity measurement devices, 
 e) Maintenance and erection elevators and employees elevators, 
 f) Fuel cell electricity generation units that include, converters to DC and transformers to low standard voltage about 2.06 volt and high Ampere for electrolysis, Electrolyzors, electrolyte and electrolyte storage tanks, Hydrogen purifiers, water pipes and water tanks, pumps and pressurizing pumps and high pressure Hydrogen storage tanks or cooling and hydrogen liquefying equipments to liquefy hydrogen and store it in cooled liquefied hydrogen tanks, 
   
     
     
         2 - Said multi level shell frame in  claim 1 , has a shell-like frame circular, elliptical, rhombus or polygon horizontal cross sections, either closed cross section or opened as a part of the whole cross section. 
     
     
         3 - Said multi level shell frame in  claim 1 , comprises structural system of columns and beams installed in constant width around the perimeter of said horizontal cross section, where said constant width is a small fraction of said cross section diameter that makes said cross section appears like a shell, and where said multi level shell frame composed of columns, primary beams, secondary beams, tertiary beams, internal and external horizontal platforms, internal ring walls from the first platform level up to the top level, and said multi level shell frame has both internal and external walls in the ground level and where ground level is extended inwards to include more horizontal space for hydrogen generation equipments and tanks, and ground level is roofed to protect it from accidentally fallen objects and from weather, and where ground level of said shell frame has shelter ceiling extends outside said shell frame boundaries, a distance exceeds the projection of above turbines outside said shell frame. 
     
     
         4 - Said horizontal level platforms in  claim 1 , comprise internal and external platforms, where internal and horizontal platforms are horizontal floors distributed, typically, on equal vertical distances sufficient to accommodate wind turbines, and said internal platforms have constant width along said shell frame circumference, where said constant width is small fraction of said shell cross section diameter and is sufficient to conduct maintenance of said wind turbines using truck mounted cranes, and where said external platforms extend from said internal platforms all around said shell frame or partially under said individual wind turbines. 
     
     
         5 - Said wind turbines in  claim 1 , are installed continuously on said external horizontal platforms with small gaps in the same level and vertical gaps equal to about floor thickness while they are in operational settings, and said wind turbine is retractable inwards by means of vertical post and horizontal maintenance arms, where said vertical post is released by unlocking clamps that fix said vertical post to said shell frame. 
     
     
         6 - Said wind turbines in  claim 1 , are fixed between two said external platforms at two consecutive horizontal levels of said multi level shell frame, where bottom of vertical stationary axis of said wind turbine fixed onto, upside down, U shaped channel fits on and able to slide on horizontal track that is fixed on horizontal supporting elements that are fixed to said external platform and part of said internal platform, a distance sufficient to pull whole said wind turbine inside a level of said multi level frame, for maintenance, and where wind turbine vertical stationary axis has U shaped channel fixed at the top, and where it fits under said top horizontal maintenance track fixed under another said horizontal supporting elements fixed in said top external platform and in top internal platform a distance sufficient to pull whole said wind turbine inside said shell frame on said internal platform for maintenance, and where contacted surfaces between maintenance tracks and U shapes are smooth and greased for easy sliding along said maintenance tracks inwards for maintenance and outwards for operational settings. 
     
     
         7 - Said horizontal tracks in  claim 1 , has a bumper sheet fixed at the external ends and perpendicular to said maintenance track longitudinal axis, where said bumper sheet stops wind turbine from further sliding outwards between said top and bottom maintenance tracks. 
     
     
         8 - Said wind turbines in  claim 1 , attached to two detachable horizontal arms or rods, one at the bottom and one at the top of said wind turbine stationary axis, where either said rods is connected from one end to said wind turbine stationary vertical axis, and from the other end to said vertical post that pushes and pulls said wind turbine inside to slide over said maintenance tracks and pushes said wind turbine outside to operational position on said external platform and where, each said rod is fixed to a vertical open section cylinder has internal diameter equals to said wind turbine internal axel diameter where the height of open cylinder is few inches larger than said arm diameter on each side of maintenance arm diameter and said small cylinder can be attached and detached from said wind turbine stationary axis by means of two bolts and nuts. 
     
     
         9 - Said maintenance post in  claim 1  has two clamps function as locks at top and bottom of said maintenance post where each clamp comprises:
 a) Two threaded rods, each one has a ring goes around a small vertical or horizontal axis fixed into said shell frame and the other end is free, 
 b) A bent steel strip fits around maintenance post partially and has two small straight parts, each straight part has one hole sufficient for the threaded rod to go through, 
 c) Two nuts, 
 
       Where the clamps are closed, nuts are tightened and said clamps push said rods that push wind turbine axel ends to touch said bumpers, so that wind turbine is fixed in a longitudinal or diagonal direction of said maintenance track, and where said clamps are opened, said a wind turbine can slide using said a maintenance post. 
     
     
         10 - Said maintenance and erection elevators and employees elevators in  claim 1  are installed next and supported by internal columns and additional other two columns, where said maintenance and erection elevators are large enough to carry an individual wind turbine, columns, beams, floors during construction and continuous maintenance process and less necessarily truck mounted cranes, and where employee elevators are smaller, less load capacity and faster than maintenance elevators, so that no need to use outside large cranes. 
     
     
         11 . Said wind turbines in  claim 1 , generate fluctuating with wind speed electricity that is connected to cables located at one vertical line of said shell frame are serially connected in one electrical isolated cable housed in electrically isolated duct runs through from the top level of said shell frame to the ground level of shell frame, where the cables are connected to a converter-transformer to convert current to DC and reduce potential to low volt matches electrolyzer input voltage and where said electrolyzers fed by said water tank that fed by pure water and provided by float level switches, and where produced hydrogen on cathodes are collected, purified, and pressurized pumped into high pressure tanks or liquefied and stored in cold enough tanks for fuel cell use, where said fuel cell generator output electricity cables are connected to transformer with output matches grid capacity then run through capacity meters to exist erected electricity towers outside said multi level shell frame where said electricity tower are connected to electricity grid. 
     
     
         12 - Surfaces of said shell frame in  claim 1 , are protected with fire insulation material and sufficient number of distinguishers in each level, and in the ground floor. 
     
     
         13 - Protection of WETSS, the subject matter of this patent, from design seismic and wind forces by normal structural design practice for low and moderate seismic regions because WETSS is very light and about 2-3% of the weight of a similar perimeter size conventional building, and for very high seismic region protection is made by using combination of the two following devices:
 a) Friction Pendulum Bearing seismic isolator invented by Zayas, A. Vector, and   b) Seismic Controller for Friction Bearings Isolated Structures invented by Haisam Yakoub, (Pending).   
     
     
         14 - A method to transform high fluctuation current, frequency and potential of generated wind electricity by said wind turbines, to regular electricity has standard constant current , frequency and potential and consistent with demand, by means of producing hydrogen gas from water, store it temporarily, use the produced hydrogen in fuel cells to generate electricity consistent with demand and not affected by temporary changes in wind speed in short term periods of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months but affected by consumption demand and annual average wind speed in a region.